Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to wireless networks, and more specifically to synchronizing active window boundaries used for data transmission between pairs of nodes of a wireless network.
Related Art
A wireless network generally includes two or more wireless stations capable of communicating with each other on a wireless medium. The wireless network may include access points or router nodes (in general, switches) in the communication path between wireless stations for providing switching function between the wireless stations. Any of such devices (i.e., wireless stations, access points and router nodes) may be termed as nodes of the wireless network.
Data transmission generally involves sending of a data packet from a sender node and reception of that packet by a receiver node. For example, a wireless station may transmit a data packet to an adjacent switch, and the switches of the wireless network may eventually deliver the data packet to a destination wireless station. It may thus be appreciated that the sender node and receiver node for each hop constitute a pair of nodes for that hop.
Active window, with respect to sender nodes, refers to a duration in which a sender can send data packets, and is contrasted with inactive durations in which the sender may not send packets. For example, nodes may operate in power savings mode, in which at least some of the components are powered down, and the corresponding durations are inactive durations. Thus, a sender node is capable of sending packets when not in power savings mode.
Active window, with respect to receiver nodes, refers to a duration in which a receiver can receive packets, and is contrasted with inactive durations in which the receiver may be incapable of receiving packets. Similar to sender nodes, receiver nodes may operate in power savings mode, in which at least some of the components are powered down, and the corresponding durations are inactive durations. Thus, a receiver node is capable of receiving packets when not in power savings mode. The start and end instances of an active window may be termed as start boundary and end boundary of the active window respectively.
There may be a general need to synchronize the active window boundaries between the sender and receiver nodes. Synchronization implies aligning the start and end boundaries of the active window of the sender node with those of the active window of the receiver, within any pre-specified acceptable deviations. Absence of synchronization may result in the receiver not receiving the packet data (i.e., packet loss), or with the receiver having to operate with longer active window than would be required when precisely synchronized with the active window of the sender node to avoid packet loss.
Several aspects of the present disclosure are directed to techniques for synchronizing active window boundaries used for data transmission between pairs of nodes of a wireless network.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.